Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/953148
March 2018 | EquipmentWorld.com 12 A new report finds the equivalent of one bridge rated "structur- ally deficient," on average, for every 27 miles of the nation's major highway network, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). Those 1,800 structurally deficient interstate bridges are crossed 60 million times a day, the association says. In total, 54,259 of the nation's bridges are rated structurally de- ficient, says Alison Premo Black, chief economist for ARTBA, which advocates more investment in U.S. infrastructure. Black conducted the analysis. If placed end-to-end, the deficient bridges would stretch 1,216 miles, or nearly the distance between Mi- ami and New York City. reporter | staff report 54,000 bridges rated structurally deficient in new report Briefs For more on each of these stories go to equipmentworld.com. The U.S. Department of Justice is offering Fiat Chrysler Auto- mobiles a settlement in the de- partment's lawsuit filed against the company last year over alleged violations of federal diesel emissions regulations, according to a Bloom- berg report. Bloomberg reports that the DOJ is offering to settle the suit once the automaker pays "a substantial but unspecified" fine and recalls 104,000 Ram trucks and Jeep SUVs. The U.S. construction industry added 36,000 jobs in January, the fifth consecutive month of total industry employment increases, according to the U.S. Labor Department. The January total of 7.1 million workers is 3 percent higher than the January 2017 total. Diane Benck has been named chair- woman of the Associated Equip- ment Distributors (AED). Benck, who co-owns West Side Tractor Sales in Naperville, Illinois, becomes the first woman to lead the international organization. United Rentals saw total revenue climb 26 percent to $1.922 billion dur- ing the 2017 fourth quarter, capping off what CEO Michael Kneeland called "a year of record results." Rental revenue for the quarter was up 27 percent to $1.646 billion. Caterpillar reported a 35 percent increase in sales for the fourth quarter of 2017 and an 18 percent increase in sales for the year. Full year sales rose to $45.5 billion, while profit shot from $139 mil- lion in 2016 to $4.1 billion in 2017. Komatsu signed an agreement with Prenbec Equipment to purchase the Quadco and Southstar brands of forestry attachments. Komatsu says the deal's roots began in 2016 when the company decided to expand its forestry attachment business as part of a three- year management plan. Continental is undergoing a $9.3 million expansion of its industrial hose plant in Norfolk, Nebraska, that includes adding 30 employees. The expansion focuses on supplying the company's North American plants with rubber for industrial hoses and white- wall tires for cars.